Jeremiah’s New Covenant Promise Comes to the Center

Hebrews quotes Jeremiah 31:31–34 at length, the longest Old Testament quotation in the New Testament. Jeremiah had promised a “new covenant” with Israel and Judah after covenant failure: God’s laws written on hearts, a restored relationship with God, universal covenant knowledge, and decisive mercy toward sins. Hebrews treats that promise as programmatic for Jesus’ priestly ministry. By speaking of a new covenant, the writer says the first is made old and is nearing disappearance. The statement must be read in the argument’s covenantal and priestly context, not turned into contempt for Israel or the Old Testament.